


Better

by emcees



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Cutesy, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, One Shot, Sharing a Bed, Short & Sweet, Spooning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 18:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16373120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emcees/pseuds/emcees
Summary: Ethan and Benji face their greatest challenge yet: the bed sharing trope.





	Better

Benji’s already half asleep by the time he’s in the car provided by the IMF. Ethan watches the street through the window, lips pursed, head tipped back against the seat. There’s plenty to say, sure, but the exhaustion has settled in so thoroughly that Benji can hardly muster the energy to part his lips. There would always be time for debriefings later.

Through his heavy eyelids, he glances at Ethan. His eyes are alert but his body is relaxed, with his palms turned upward in his lap. Next to his hands, there’s a tear in his pants. Blood is stained around the edges.

“When’d that happen?” Benji asks.

Ethan’s neck rolls so that he’s facing Benji. “What?”

“That.” He makes a small gesture towards Ethan’s thigh.

“Oh.” He pauses. “I don’t remember, actually.”

There’s a laugh that bubbles in Benji’s throat, but he smiles instead and turns his attention to the window. He tries his hardest to retrace everything Ethan had done, but it’s all a messy blur in his head. Not that Benji could ever figure out what Ethan was doing when he was wide awake, either. Ethan’s spontaneity could also be discussed at a later time.

Benji hadn’t realized that he was starting to drift off until someone nudges his shoulder.

“Hey,” comes Ethan’s soft voice. “We’re here.”

He yawns and unbuckles his seatbelt before sliding across the backseat of the car and exiting through Ethan’s door. The hotel the IMF had chosen appears to be rather nice, with a lobby that feels entirely inviting when they enter. There’s a young woman standing at the front desk who greets the two of them with a warm smile. “Good evening,” she says. “How can I help you?”

That’s Ethan’s cue. Benji stays back as Ethan offers a fake name and gets their reserved keys. As they start for the elevator, Benji says, “It’s a good thing nobody ever gets too nosy about why you look so disheveled.”

“I don’t look that bad, do I?”

“You look as if you haven't showered in two days.”

“Well,” Ethan starts with a nod of his head, but he doesn’t follow it with anything else.

The elevator dings and the doors open. Their room is the second on the right. Benji supports himself against the wall as Ethan slides the key card through and the door clicks open. Together they enter, duffle bags in hand, until they catch a glimpse of the room.

“Ethan,” Benji says, “there's only one bed.”

It’s a nicely sized one at that. The blankets look so comfortable and soft that Benji’s practically drooling at the thought of them.

For a moment, they stand wordlessly. Then Ethan responds with, “Better take that shower now, then.”

Benji glances at him. “Are you sleeping with me?”

“I’ve been in worse situations,” he teases. “Or I can make do on the floor if it really bothers you.”

“No, don’t do that.”

“It’s just one night,” he continues. He makes his way towards a door on the right side of the room. “Don’t wait for me.”

Benji doesn’t need to be told twice. When Ethan disappears into the bathroom, he kicks off his shoes and tosses his shirt onto the floor. Then he collapses into bed, body weighed down too heavily by exhaustion to even bother with slipping his pants off. His aching muscles are now overtaken by the relief of sleep. It takes only a few moments for his body to completely relax and his mind to go blank.

A few minutes later, he’s suddenly roused when he hears Ethan swear from the other side of the bed. Benji turns his head and peers through the slits of his eyelids to see him rubbing his foot. Ethan has undressed down to a pair of briefs, hair still damp from his shower. When Ethan sets his foot back on the floor, he catches Benji’s gaze. An apologetic grin crosses his lips.

“Sorry,” he murmurs. “Stubbed my toe against the leg of the bed.”

“Right.” Benji turns back over. He feels Ethan crawl underneath the covers next to him. He’s unsure of how far apart he is from Ethan; he knows, most likely, that Ethan has maintained an adequate amount of space, but it feels as if only mere inches separated them.

Benji pushes the thought side and exhales slowly. All is quiet.

“Goodnight, Benji,” Ethan says.

The words are an unexpected intrusion. Benji lets them settle for a few moments before finding the willpower to answer, “Goodnight, Ethan.”

* * *

Benji awakens to the blinding light of the sun through the cracks of the window blinds. He tries shutting his eyes together tightly, but it’s still too bright. With a slight groan, he turns to bury his head into his pillow, but suddenly discovers that he’s unable to.

He opens his eyes and glances down at his waist. There’s a pair of arms around it. As his mind continues to become more alert, he’s made aware of the weight pressed against his back and that the warm spot on his neck hadn’t been caused by the rays of the sun, but rather by gentle exhales against it. When he tries to move again, he hears a soft moan of protest.

That wakes him up.

His face flushes. The willpower to turn around and look at his teammate had entirely left him, now. There had to be a way to discreetly slip out from his arms, he thinks, but the guilt that would come from waking him after such a taxing night is too much to think about.

So he waits. He shuts his eyes and does his best to turn his face against the mattress. He busies himself with silly thoughts, plans about the flight he and Ethan had to catch that afternoon, hoping they hadn’t slept in too long already. But his thinking is interrupted by the sensation of Ethan’s chest expanding and deflating against his back, unhurried, gentle. The steady rhythm is soothing enough that Benji loses his place in his thoughts entirely and succumbs to counting the seconds it takes for Ethan to inhale and exhale. Every so often, a muscle in his arm twitches, squeezing Benji so quickly that he wonders if it were real.

Then Ethan shifts. Benji holds his breath as Ethan presses his body closer to his and lets out a sleepy moan into his shoulder blade. As Ethan settles back down, Benji notices his heart, beating so loudly in his ears that he fears that it’ll wake Ethan up. He lets out a sigh of his own now, doing everything he could to loosen his body, to allow himself to sink back into Ethan. Then he lies there, motionless, without making a sound, his breathing matching Ethan’s. The room is quiet, except for the soft blow from the air conditioner and the drone of tires on asphalt from the road below their room.

Benji’s nearly asleep again when he Ethan stirs. “Mm,” he sighs, and Benji’s skin prickles as his hot breath touches the back of his neck. Ethan’s arms slacken around his waist. Now’s my chance, Benji thinks, but as he starts to roll over, he finds himself feeling remorseful. He doesn’t want to move, not really. There’s something terribly peaceful about being in Ethan’s arms. Or maybe he’s just had a hectic two days.

But when he feels Ethan move again, he pushes forward, so that he detangles himself from Ethan’s arms and falls onto his stomach against the mattress. Benji turns his head towards his friend, one eye peaked open. Ethan’s only just now opening his eyes. The green irses are clouded with exhaustion. In the sunlight, Benji can see various cuts around Ethan’s body.

“Good morning,” Ethan says, voice low with sleep. Benji’s throat tightens as he begins searching for a response. His eyes drift down his torso.

“I didn’t realize how banged up you got yesterday.”

Ethan blinks slowly. His body heaves with a sigh. “Just a few cuts. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Did you get them cleaned up last night?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

Benji perks up slightly. “They’re going to get infected.” 

Ethan’s eyes close again, but this time with quiet laughter. “Don’t be lecturing me. I just woke up.”

“Hardly an excuse not to take care of yourself.”

He doesn’t respond to that. Benji sits up and swings his legs onto the floor. For a moment, he stares at the window in quiet contemplation; then, he says, “We didn’t shut the blinds last night.” He pauses. “I would have if I hadn’t been so tired.” He gets to his feet and heads toward it. “Of course, I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway. Our room is rather high up, isn’t it? Not like anyone can just look inside. Or are we violating some kind of safety protocol but not shutting our blinds?”

“Benji.”

“Yes?” He glances over his shoulder.

“I dreamt last night that I was with Julia again.” Ethan opens his eyes again. “Just sleeping with her like I used to.”

“Oh?”

“Mm-hm.” His eyes are bright in the morning sun. “And then I woke up and saw that I was with you.”

Benji’s knees go weak. “Uh-huh.”

There’s laughter etched in Ethan’s face. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Uh,” he starts, “actually… it, er-- it was quite nice.” Blood rushes to his face as he quickly turns back to the window.

There’s a moment of quiet before Ethan’s answer. “Then there’s no apology needed.”

“No harm done,” Benji replies as he fidgets with the blinds. He barely catches Ethan’s soft chuckle.

“Benji?”

“Yeah?”

“I liked it too.”

Without any rhyme or reason, Benji’s dizzy. Silly, this whole thing is silly, but the way Ethan said that makes him feel as if he were drowning.

“What time is it?” Ethan asks.

Benji glances at the clock on the side table. “Noon.”

“Noon,” Ethan repeats. “Better get up, I guess.” 

Benji doesn’t stay to watch him slide out of bed. Instead, he grabs his clothes and heads to the bathroom to quickly dress and freshen up. He splashes his face with water before returning back to the bedroom. Ethan’s on the edge of the bed, now, with his pants on, but no shirt. When their gazes meet, Ethan gets to his feet. “What time is our flight?” he asks as he moves towards his friend.

“5, I think.”

Ethan nods. “I’ll go fix myself up, now, and we can check out when you’re ready.”

“Alright.”

Benji sits on the bed, puts on his shoes, and then waits. His mind reels, replying Ethan’s response over and over, cursing himself for reacting so stupidly to something so minute. Benji’s furious musing is interrupted when Ethan emerges from the bathroom, dressed and looking much more refreshed than he had the previous night.

“Ready?” Ethan asks. Benji nods and the two of them start for the door. As Ethan reaches for the doorknob, however, Benji suddenly speaks up.

“Wait, Ethan,” he starts, “before we leave, I -- the bed thing, that’s not going to be weird from now on?”

Ethan grins. “No harm done,” he parrots.

“Okay.” Benji nods. His heart’s still pounding away, like he had a dumb schoolgirl crush. Oh, God, did he? 

A terse silence overtakes them. Ethan holds him in a steady stare.

“Good,” Benji mutters, face growing warm again. “Okay.”

Ethan laughs and takes his hand off the doorknob. “Come here,” he says, and he cups his hand around Benji’s chin and pulls him into a short but sweet kiss. “Is that better?”

“Better” didn’t begin to describe it. Benji’s entire body is burning from an indescribable heat, one that makes his heart race at an unbelievably fast pace, only this time from giddiness and not anxiety. He sighs, eyes falling on Ethan’s lips, craving another kiss, but he swallows the urge down.

“Yeah,” Benji answers after what feels like an eternity. Now it’s his turn to smile. He meets Ethan’s eyes and says, “Yeah, that’s better.”


End file.
